For many prior-art applications requiring large numbers of highly reliable switching operations, such as in the telephone industry, it was customary to use reed relays comprising a pair of contacts sealed in an inert gas atmosphere into a glass tube. For operation, the latter was inserted into the gap of an electromagnetic coil. These reed relays were expensive to fabricate, required ferro-nickel material for the reeds which has a coefficient of thermal expansion equal to that of glass into which the ends were heat sealed. In order to carry a limited current, the contact ends were formed of precious metal diffused into the iron. Furthermore, the glass envelope was fragile, so that great care was required in fabricating and using such relays. Moreover, the relay resulting from insertion of the reed into the coil was magnetically inefficient without provision for a magnetic return path.